On writing: poetry and prose

Nov 19 Janie Franz interview

I come from a long line of liars and storytellers. I enjoy enjoy traveling and good conversation. I find people fascinating everywhere I go.

How did you start writing fantasy novels?

My fantasy writing is grounded in my Bowdancer Saga that began many years ago. The first scene of the first book, The Bowdancer, a novelette, came from a meditation I had. I continued that story through The Wayfarer’s Road and The Warrior Women. Those three books became the Bowdancer Saga. Three more books followed, The Lost Song Trilogy: Verses, Refrain, and Coda.

I have always been fascinated by cultures and that was why I returned to college as a much older than average student to earn a degree in anthropology. Though I’ve read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, it was always those about another culture that interested me the most—not hard science and not dwarves and elves.

From that first meditation, I saw the bowdancer atop a hill shooting out that first flaming arrow to gather her people into a villager to a wedding. I knew her and what she faced immediately. The details of her culture are revealed through the whole series.

I created a world based on a reverence for the earth and work. The books are filled with herb lore (medicinal and culinary), chants and songs, dance, music (though you cannot hear it), spiritual beliefs, and different lifeways of the people the bowdancer meets in her life.

What is your favorite among your own books?

I am quite fond of all six of the Bowdancer books. I think of them, Warrior Women and Verses of the Lost Song Trilogy are probably my favorites.

Of my other books, Sugar Magnolia, a book about the music industry is a favorite.

What is your favorite fantasy novel?

Hmmm. That’s hard to decide. I’ve read a lot of Marian Zimmer Bradley, Ann McCaffrey (Dragonriders of Pern series), Mercedes Lakey, Ursual Le Guin, and Tolkien, of course, as well as a lot of new writers like Robert Liparulo, Tamora Pierce, and, J. K. Rowlings. It’s really hard to pick just one. I think my whole writing life has been shaped by those authors and others, including some really great mysteries and thriller writers, including Gregg Hurwitz and his page turners.

Can you tell us something about your writing process?

I’m a pantser. I start with an idea and then plunge myself into the story, letting my characters frame the plot. Usually, they don’t lead me wrong. I will do research either before I start a book or during the writing process.

What do you want readers to take away from your books?

I think all of my books deal with empowered women characters, especially those in the Bowdancer books. I deal with themes of isolation, difference, bigotry, independence, and a search for meaning and belonging. Because these themes are worked out in a culture in a created world, it is my hope that readers can look at the characters and what happens to them, especially in their relationships, and see parallels in their own lives and in society today.

What are your strengths as a writer? What do you struggle with?

I think my strengths lie in my ability to create realistic characters even though a lot of them are in created worlds. I think every writer faces the challenge of drawing characters that live and breathe on the page. And it is my hope that writers become emotionally involved with mine.

As a writer, I struggle with life intervening into my writing process. I think that has been why writing my next book has been difficult.

What are you working on now?

My current work in progress is Legacy, the third book of the Ruins trilogy, my archaeology romance thriller series. It’s taken a long time to write this one.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I live in Santa Fe, NM. I love the landscape here. I’ve been struggling with trying to create a garden here. It’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do. It’s not the soil, the limited water, or the plant varieties. It’s the intense sun at 7200 feet. My choice is either to force my will on the land or let it influence me. Perhaps I need to take a lesson from my own writing process and that is to let the land tell me what to do.

Besides working in my garden, I love to dance and go to archaeology sites—and there are many of them here.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Here is my author’s page at MuseItUp Publishing where you can read excerpts from all my books:

My books can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other ebooksellers, as well as my publisher’s website.

The Bowdancer Saga is being offered as a bundle in a special for two weeks, starting Nov 28. The first three books of the Bowdancer Saga (The Bowdancer Saga, The Wayfarer’s Road, and Warrior Women) will be available for sale as a bundle for a special price of $2.99 for two weeks only. Those books, if sold separately, would cost $12.50

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2 thoughts on “Nov 19 Janie Franz interview”

Thanks for letting me stop by today to tell about the new Bowdancer Saga bundle for the holidays. As an FYI, The Wayfarer’s Road and Warrior Women have lesbian, bi, and gay characters. I love all of these characters!

Thank you for hosting me, Margaret. Your readers may like to know that the Bowdancer series has gay, lesbian, and bi characters, especially The Wayfarer’s Road, Warrior Women, and The Lost Song trilogy.